


Counting on Forever

by MissLiveByThePen



Series: KyluxAdvent2020 [18]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Canon Divergence - Happy Skywalker Family, Dark Side Rey (Star Wars), Darth Maul Lives, Fluff and Angst, Good Armitage Hux, Good Brendol Hux, Good Uncle Luke Skywalker, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, New Republic Politics (Star Wars), Order 66 Didn't Happen (Star Wars), Pilot Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28156710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissLiveByThePen/pseuds/MissLiveByThePen
Summary: An alternate reality where Order 66 never happened, Anakin Skywalker never turned to the Dark Side, and Padme Amidala lived long enough to influence her grandson's sense of style. Too bad he's as helpless as his grandfather at flirting.Kylux Advent 2020: Day 18: Light and Dark
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo, Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: KyluxAdvent2020 [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035960
Comments: 3
Kudos: 57





	Counting on Forever

**Author's Note:**

> Is there a lot of canon-fuckery in this ficlet? Yes. Do I regret it? No.

He met Ben Solo for the first time at his grandmother’s funeral. 

Padme Amidala Naberrie, the former Senator from Naboo, peacefully passed away in her home estate surrounded by her family. Every senator in the galaxy was invited to the procession and, at thirteen-years-old, Armitage was old enough to accompany his father. 

Brendol had always been a gruff, stern man, but he wanted the best for Arkanis and his family. Grooming Armitage to take his place from a young age so he could succeed wherever the man failed. It was a noble duty even for one so young. He knew the responsibility he would carry on his shoulders one day.

During the funeral procession, the redheaded boy watched curiously as the coffin floated in front of the morose family. Her children, the Jedi Knight and the newly elected-Senator, walked behind her coffin with solemn looks across their faces. Behind them, marched the hero of the Clone Wars and her husband, former Jedi General Anakin Skywalker. He was an old man at this point with greying hair and a heavily pronounced limp, but there was no denying his power and strength. Also, his sadness. His mother often claimed that soulmates couldn’t live without each other. Everyone expected Anakin to join his wife in death soon. 

Holding his hand was the youngest of the Skywalker lineage, eight-year-old Ben Solo with his sad, dark eyes and a curtain of unruly, dark hair that normally stayed in his face. Today, it was braided back into a thick braid.

He’d caused quite a stir over the last few years when it was discovered that he wasn’t as ‘Force-null’ as his birth records claimed him to be. The Jedi Council realized very quickly that Anakin’s interference kept his grandson’s name off the holocron of Force sensitive babies. 

Armitage could still remember the blurry, grainy image from the holonet of Anakin Skywalker glancing over his former masters with the caption, “I gave you one child, you’re not entitled to another.” He wondered if that’s what Ben wanted for his life. Too many children of important people were forced into roles that didn’t fit them. 

For the rest of the funeral, Armitage stood solemnly beside his father as they waited for their turn to pay respects to the fallen woman. He followed just a step behind the man as he said his condolences to the adults while Armitage rocked backwards on the heels of his feet. He was unsure what to do with himself while his father skillfully danced some invisible line between grief and support. He didn’t know how he’d ever be a good senator because that seemed difficult enough. 

He ended up hoovering on the outskirts of this political song and dance. Unsure of where he belonged until his shoulders were bumped by a much shorter figure. 

Ben. 

He knew he should probably say something about how sorry he was that his grandmother died, but he was sure the other boy didn’t want to hear that right now. He’d been hearing it all day. 

“I like your braid,” Armitage offered up as he reached out to touch the braided hair. He didn’t tug or put any pressure on it for fear of messing up the intricate work. “It’s pretty.”

The younger boy blinked several times before turning as red as Armitage’s hair. “Your hair is nice, too. Like fire.”

Anything else Armitage wanted to say was cut short as Brendol nudged him forward for the procession to continue. He did look back to see Ben’s eyes staring straight at him. He held that gaze until they turned a corner away from the funeral.

\----------

The second time he met Ben Solo was five years later in the Jedi Temple. 

Shortly after his sixteenth birthday, Armitage traveled to Coruscant to pursue a degree in engineering and play senate aide to his father. It was an interesting experience. The Senate was cutthroat, but he was learning at the feet of some of the Senate’s greatest minds. 

As much as he liked the Senate, he loved his engineering work. His instructors were constantly pushing him to give up his political aspirations to focus on creating technology for the New Republic. While that sounded fantastic, he didn’t want to disappoint his father. Brendol had no other children and giving Arkanis to a stranger never failed to get his blood pressure high. 

So, for the last two years, he danced through both roles. Being in the Senate when his father needed him and submitting new projects for assignments that never failed to generate a buzz. Now at eighteen, he could claim a number of technology patents underneath his name. It was something he was proud of, even more so when the Jedi Council requested a closer look at his newest upgrade component: the ability to track ships through hyperspace. 

He was so giddy at the simple fact that the Jedi Council wanted to see his schematics that he nearly barreled over thirteen-year-old Ben Solo in the hallway of the main entrance. He looked so different. He’d grown in the five years since his grandmother’s funeral, but his hair was still nearly tucked into a braid and he’d grown a few inches. Still not taller than Hux, but few people were at this point. 

“Armitage, right?” Ben asked with just a hint of his voice cracking on the ‘tage’ part of his name. Those cheeks turned pink, but Hux wasn’t going to tease him for a biological necessity. 

Instead, he bobbed his head as he gestured to his schematics. “I’m meeting with the Jedi Council to discuss implementing some technology. I didn’t expect to see you here. You’re not a Jedi.”

He realized far too late that those words came across as rude and wondered if he could save himself from putting his own foot into his mouth. Luckily, Ben didn’t seem to care. He gave a little roll of his eyes as he jerked his thumb towards the deeper parts of the Crèche. “Uncle Luke wanted some help with the younglings. All this raw, untethered energy makes for a good babysitter whenever the Masters convene,” he joked. 

Armitage fiddled with his schematics for a moment as he realized the Masters were convening to see his plans. His palms were growing sweaty. Maybe he should just leave? Save himself the embarrassment of being rejected? 

“You’re going to do great, you know.” Ben chirped happily, almost as if the boy was reading his mind. Considering he did have those ‘Force’ abilities, it was completely possible. “They’re intimidating sometimes, but they’re just people.” 

It was encouraging enough that Armitage managed to give the boy a smile. He didn’t do that often, but it must have been fine because Ben returned it. He even escorted Armitage to the Jedi High Council Chamber room where he would stand before the Jedi Masters in just a matter of moments.

Ben stayed right at his side, though. He thought it was just a tad bit strange, but didn’t say a single word whenever the younger boy slipped his hand into the one balling at his side. Nearly instantly, a cool, calming comfort washed over him and he gave Ben’s hand a reluctant squeeze as the doors opened to reveal the twelve Jedi Masters that would decide his project’s fate. 

A few hours later, he emerged with a lucrative contract and the Jedi stamp of approval. He was more than a little disappointed once he realized Ben hadn’t waited on him. 

\--------

Barely two years passed the next time he found himself meeting up with Ben Solo. The boy had grown even taller at this point, but there were still a few inches of height difference between them. Ben looked healthy and his braid had grown even longer and looked far more complicated than the last time they met in the Jedi Temple.

Armitage, on the other hand, looked tired. His year hadn’t been the best. An uprising of Separatists infiltrated the government of Arkanis and assassinated his father. While Brendol had been a stoic man, he’d been a good father. A damn good leader, too. 

Losing him and having to flee his home all in the same year was difficult. There was more than one time where Armitage felt like giving up in the past year, but he’d stayed on course. His dealings with the Jedi landed him credits, but he was a man without a home. He felt lost and completely unhinged. 

Then Ben walked right back into his life. 

Well, flew right back into his life. 

He’d developed a new ship that he was lovingly calling the ‘Silencer’. It was a play on the simple fact that it was as quiet as a mouse and swift as one of the Jedi’s sabers. This one divided the Council because it was technically more of a weapon of war than a harbinger of peace. The weaponry didn’t shoot supplies, after all. 

Still, some of the more future-forward Jedi Masters knew the uprising of Separatists was a worrying factor. The Clone Wars ended nearly three decades ago when the late Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu uncovered the truth of Sheev Palpatine being Darth Sideous and subsequently removed him from power. 

The entire Separatist movement fell apart in the aftermath of that discovery, but they knew there would still be some rumblings of discontent even decades later. Arkanis was a grand example of that. His home planet was quarantined now with an embargo wrapped around the planet. It pained him to know he’d left his people behind, but what could an insignificant young man do in the face of such a mountain?

His thoughts had taken a heavy turn in the last few weeks, even as the Silencer was produced and greenlit for testing. Armitage knew there was a chance his ship could see battle in the coming years and he wanted to ensure the pilot was as safe as possible. 

He just didn’t expect to walk onto the testing fields to see his ship doing barrel rolls across the dim sky of Coruscant. 

“Patch me into that pilot,” he hissed at one of the padawans tasked with keeping him company. The girl gulped loudly before bringing up the comlink to reach out. Armitage’s eyes narrowed in anger up until the point the bluish-hue of Ben’s face appeared before him. “Ben?”

The young man laughed as he did another roll before shooting straight up into the towering skylines of the city. “Don’t worry, Armitage. I’m just putting her through her paces. She’s handling great. Flies smooth.” 

“Are you even allowed to be in it?” 

Ben gave him a smirk through the holo that sent a surprising shiver down his spine. It looked far too mature for his youthful appearance. “Who’s going to stop me?”

While he had a point, Armitage was sure it wasn’t the right one. “Fine. If you break it, you’re the one that’s going to repair it. I will stand over you until you’ve buffed out every scratch and attached every broken piece.”

The far-too-chipper ‘sir, yes, sir’ only made him roll his eyes. 

\-------

They say that the fourth time’s the charm and maybe that’s true. Armitage meets Ben once again nearly four years later. He’s in chains, the side of his head is bleeding something fierce and his eyes feel swollen shut, but he can make out the young man’s face. 

He’d been in captivity for nearly two weeks now. Captured during a fake meeting with a steel provider in the Outer Rim. Turned out, his work with the Jedi was far more valuable on the black market than he could ever imagine. 

He didn’t expect to end up kidnapped by a supposedly dead sith and his apprentice, a girl from the sands of Jakku. Darth Maul was every bit as cruel as the stories from Mandolore told them, but the girl was a strange balm in the uncertainty of the moment. She was angry and full of rage, but not without reason. She only hurt him whenever he didn’t comply. Maul seemed to thrive on the torture. Two weeks with them made his worst nightmares appear like walks in the park, but he’d survived out of sheer stubbornness. He wasn’t giving them the satisfaction of killing him. 

The moment he knew something was different was the slight buzzing coming from the hallway. It sounded less like the electric batons the troopers sometimes used and more like the swish of the lightsabers he could hear from the padawan training rooms. Had the Jedi come to save him? He thought it was a ridiculous notion. The Jedi wouldn't risk their peace for one man. 

Ben did, though. 

As he heard the sounds of the heavy door creaking open, he strained through swollen eyes to see the bluish hue of a saber in the younger man’s hand. He looked exhausted and was breathing as if he’d run an entire marathon, but he was there. He wasn’t some figment of Armitage’s imagination brought on by dehydration or terror. 

“Ben?” His voice cracked as he called out to the man. Shuddering as Ben rushed forward to use the saber to cut through the chains. “You’re real.”

“I’m real,” he promised as his hands roamed over Armitage’s face for only a few moments. It hurt so damn much and he was sure he looked like ground meat with the bruising and bleeding. 

He just wanted to sleep, but knew that was dangerous. He turned his face away from the bright light of the saber. “You’re not a Jedi,” he mumbled as his fingers curled around the cloak the man was wearing. 

“Nope,” Ben said with a little pop of the ‘p’ and a soft, awkward chuckle, “but did you really think my grandfather was going to let me live without knowing how to use one?” He turned just in time to see Ben give the saber a little twirl. “It was his, you know. Before he died, he brought me into the garden and gave it to me. Told me to use it to protect those that I loved.” 

Armitage wanted to hyper focus on that last little bit, but the feeling of standing on fractured feet and the overwhelming injuries to his body made his mind fuzzy. He lasted just a few extra steps before passing out. 

When he woke up, it was to a large Wookie placing bacta on his face while two men talked in the background. A soft, shrill chortle from the Wookie had footsteps rushing towards him and the gentle hand in his hair settled him right back asleep.

\------

Armitage stopped counting after the rescue because the times that Ben Solo appeared in his life became innumerable. In fact, it was beginning to be easier to count the times the man wasn’t in his life. His rescue had mixed results in the Jedi Council. Mostly because Ben Solo wasn’t a trained Jedi and Darth Maul’s body appeared to have evidence of the presence of two fighters. 

Ben was tightlipped about it, but a part of Armitage wondered who could have helped with his rescue. The twinkling smile anytime Luke Skywalker saw him berating Ben for something reckless made him overly suspicious, though. 

After his kidnapping, life settled for a bit as he healed. The Jedi Council went after Maul’s apprentice and found her to be, well, ‘turnable’. She gradually accepted the ‘Light’ and rebranded herself as ‘Rey’. As apologetic as she was to him, the sight of her still made Armitage sick to his stomach, so he stopped making technology for the Jedi Council. He resigned to return to the newly liberated Arkanis, but he didn’t return alone.

No, Ben asked to come with him. 

At first, he argued with himself it was just a ‘comfort’ thing. Ben rescued him from a terrible time in his life and he was clinging to him like a toddler would a blanket. Then he began to realize there were subtle, little things the man would do that made his chest clench with joy. Stupid things like bringing home a water-soaked ginger kitten and calling her ‘Princess Milicent’ whenever Armitage argued she needed a more ‘regal’ name than ‘pumpkin’. Or making Armitage play chess with him even if he knew the man was going to beat him because Ben knew he liked to play it. 

Then he began to realize a few more things. Ben really cared about his opinion, especially with his hair. Every morning, he’d sweep into his bedroom with some massively intricate braid in his hair and ask if Armitage liked it. Of course he did. He thought everything about Ben was gorgeous. 

He thought Ben was gorgeous. 

Well, a near-death experience will teach you not to waste time so he had no intentions of letting this potential wait between them. That night, he’d beckoned Ben into his bed and never looked back. They were married before the end of the year and, in just under a decade afterwards, Ben stood at his side as he accepted the oath of office as Senator of Arkanis. Restoring his planet to the Senate and fulfilling his father’s legacy. 

He would like to say that Ben settled somewhere along the way, but that just wasn’t in his genetic makeup. Not a day went by that Armitage wasn’t contacted over something reckless his husband did and, honestly, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated! :)


End file.
